Depraved Paul Francis, given the property despite having a 40-year history of sex crimes, spotted his young victim playing with a pal from his new home.

The sicko, who claimed to be a former professional musician, handed the two girls leaflets inviting them to rehearsals of “secular and Christian songs”, and giving his name and home address.

Francis, 62, who could also see a nursery from his bedroom window, had been able move in because a charity providing supported accommodation for low earners did not check on his history.

After luring the girls to his home, Francis persuaded them to dance for him, showed them pornography and begged them to take their clothes off.

On one occasion, he forced one of the youngsters to touch his penis.

Francis was jailed for four years on Thursday after admitting two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13.

He also pleaded guilty to a further charge of attempting to cause a child under 13 to engage in sexual behaviour.

The mother of one of the victims, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of her daughter, blasted Yarlington Housing Group, accusing them of failing to fully vet twisted Francis, whose name had been removed from the sex offenders register because his last offence was in 2005.

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Note: Paul Francis has been has been jailed for four years

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday People from her home in Yeovil, Somerset, she said: “Angry does not even come close to how I feel.

"I can’t believe this has happened to my little girl.

"It’s disgraceful that an infamous sex offender like this has just been able to slip through the net. It’s utterly shocking.

“Yarlington’s lack of care has ruined my daughter’s life.”

Francis’s crimes go back to 1973 and he has served 11 of the past 40 years in prison.

But after he was overlooked by the authorities in March this year, he returned to his vile offences.

From the bedroom window of his new home, he spotted his victims in the children’s play area of the park and pinpointed them as suitable targets for grooming.

The girls took up his invitation to go to music lessons and began to spend more time with Francis.

As they did so, he started writing them explicit letters which scared them.

The victim’s mother was alerted to the paedophile’s grotesque crimes after her terrified daughter’s friend reported Francis to a police community support officer (PCSO).

She said: “I came home from work one day and, to my horror, my partner told me that the CID had been at our home because our little girl was a victim of grooming.

"I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“How could this have happened to my daughter? I was distraught and completely shell-shocked.”

Police later broke the news that Francis was a well-known sex offender and the housing association had failed to come to them for information on his previous convictions.

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Sick: Paul Francis, 62

Disturbingly, it came to light that Francis had committed 17 sexual offences between 1973 and 2005.

The mum added: “There is no way that a notorious paedophile like this should have been moved into such a family area. It makes me sick.

“Yarlington’s negligence is beyond frightening as they have thousands of tenants.

“I am absolutely furious with them for putting him near a park. You couldn’t get a worse location for this man.”

She went on: “Thankfully my daughter doesn’t really understand how serious all of this is.

"However, in later life I fear it will all come back to haunt her and she may need counselling then.

“For weeks I just couldn’t let her out of my sight because we can’t trust her being alone.

“The poor girl has been punished indirectly for that sicko’s crimes.”

The girl’s worried parents are in the process of making a formal complaint against the housing association.

A spokesman for Yarlington Housing Group said: “We can confirm that Mr Paul Francis was a tenant of ours.

“As a result of action taken by Yarlington, he ended his tenancy in March 2014 following his arrest for a serious criminal offence.

“Where a housing applicant is a registered sex offender, we liaise closely with the Police and the Probation Services to ensure any potential risk to the community is adequately managed.

“We are aware that he has now been convicted of charges brought against him and our thoughts at this difficult time go out to the families who have been affected by his offences.”

The spokesman added: “Yarlington takes a robust approach to dealing with criminal offences and anti-social behaviour that occur within its properties, and aims to take swift action to protect our communities.

“In this respect, we work in close partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies and, when necessary, the police.